Apollo's Outcasts by Allen Steele

 This book reads like a pastiche or homage to several of Heinlein's juvenile works, and a couple of his novels for adult readers, too, such as Between Planets, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, and Thet Menace from Earth, right off the top of my head. Jamie, Melissa and Jan are the children of a scientific bureaucrat within the international space agency who signed a petition to keep the Helium 3 resources out of the greedy claws of the current Vice President of the United States. When the President dies suddenly, allegedly assassinated by PSU (Chinese) agents, and the VP takes power, he realizes that he is in danger, and that his children can be used as leverage against him, so he sends them off - to the Moon - for safety.

This is a heavily disguised blessing for Jamey, who was born on the Moon, but who has lived his life on earth up to the age of sixteen in a powered mobile (read wheelchair) since his bones and muscles are not strong enough to support him on Earth unassisted. So, though it is emotionally traumatic and all very suspenseful, Jamie really blossoms...or perhaps soars is a better term, when he arrives at the lunar colony of Apollo. Jamey's best friend, Logan, is also along for the ride, as are the two children of another family of scientists, , one of whom is developmentally disabled, which turns out to be a brilliant gadget whereby Steele can do some expository work, explaining simple things about the Moon and its colony. At the last minute, before they board their shuttle to the Moon, Jamey's older sister, Jan, is replaced by Hannah "Smith", who arrives suddenly in a limousine, accompanied by Men in Black. It's all very mysterious to Jamie, but not so much to the rest of us.

After that, it's all mostly a coming of age novel, set in lunar orbit, complete with bullies, teenage angst and know-it-all atttitude, and a tale of rebellion against tyranny where boy gets girl in the end.
A good, innocent read. Steele has written so many great books over the years, and this one adds to his legacy.

Coyote, by Allen Steele

I've always like Allen Steele's writings. How could I not, with a last name like that? A number of years ago, he wrote a series of SF novels about near future events in near Earth orbit that were absolutely fascinating.


Recently, he wrote a couple of novels, OceanSpace and ChronoSpace, set in somewhat of an alternate future here on Earth, that I didn't find nearly as entertaining. In Coyote, he takes off for deep space on a stolen spaceship, which should have proved to be exhilarating, indeed.

In the 21st century, the United States has split apart, and perhaps the largest section is the USR, a near totalitarian ultra conservative state. The USR has pumped billions of dollars into building a ship capable of interstellar travel and colonization, and a group of political dissidents (mostly scientists and engineers - why are they such radicals?) decides to hijack the ship and escape the clutches of the evil regime.

Aside from one unfortunate soul who is awakened WAY too early from cryosleep, and who subsequently goes quite batty, the colonists and crew sleep through the voyage, so we don't get to learn if Steele has any new insights into interstellar travel. He builds some potential for interesting ongoing conflict into the difference in political philosophies between the dissidents and the USR military agents who end up along for the ride. But when the colonists arrive at their new home, the planet called Coyote, the worst of the gung-ho soldiers is killed off right away, most of the rest are coopted into the planet's new security force, and the ringleader, who might cause trouble later, is killed off by the planet's only deadly bugaboo, the boids.

Again, we learn nothing new from Mr. Steele about setting up a new society on a brave new horizon. The most intense conflict in the book seems to be the teenage angst suffered by the younger members of the colony, who steal some boats and equipment and set off on a voyage to explore more of Coyote than their elders think is wise. We do encounter some interesting flora and fauna, and even a possibly sapient species along the way. But, in the end, the teenagers return home to become responsible adults, spouses, parents and blend into the Coyote community.

I was disappointed, overall. However, Allen Steele's prose is quite good, and nearly makes up for the wandering plot and an expedition to nowhere in particular.

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